Do I have a bird mite infestation?

[teresaolive]

My chicks are 5 weeks old. We keep them inside during the night and outside in an enclosed area during the day as it is very warm where we live. Last night I noticed several tiny whitish bugs crawling on the floor where we keep their brooder. I squished them and every time I went in there, I found more. This morning I killed about 10-15 of them. I did some quick research and am terrified that we have a bird mite infestation. They only thing that doesn't seem to line up with that, is that they seems to be able to hop around a little bit, making it quite tricky to squish them. The chicks seems pretty content. I haven't given them a thorough inspection yet. One of them has a little patch of feathers missing from her head but I figured that was because they are still growing their adult feathers. I tried to take some pictures but they are so tiny that it's hard to see them. I hope you can zoom in on it. It's that tiny speck by the edge of the floor board, above the shadow of my phone.

Another factor to consider is that I left their brooder in a field during the day, to dry and get sanitized by the sun after I emptied and hosed it out. The bugs may have gotten on/in from the grass. My husband brought in their water containers, which I had also rinsed and left in the sun, and noticed they were covered with these bugs. I'm hoping they are some harmless field bug but am still very nervous.

If anyone has an idea of what this might be, and any treatment options I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

 

[sourland]

If they are indeed 'hopping' they are not mites, and may very well be some insects that were in the grass. The fact that the waterers were covered with these bugs lends strength to this possibility.

 

[Amanda1UK]

Hi there

I too have found these tiny grey bugs on the outside of my coop this evening - which I think might be the same as teresaolive? There were quite a few of them and were crawling but also hopping about. All different sizes but all the exact same shape.

I'd like to know if anyone can identify them and let me know if they are harmful to my hens. I assume, based on photo's of red mite, these are not red mite but they may be lice or some type of flea, since they hop?

A confirmation would be very appreciated as soon as possible as I believe some of these mites can grow heavily in numbers relatively quickly and I don't want to kill them if they are completely harmless or in fact helpful in some way.

Many thanks
Amanda

 

[K Tizzle]

If they are indeed 'hopping' they are not mites, and may very well be some insects that were in the grass. The fact that the waterers were covered with these bugs lends strength to this possibility.

 

[cmom]

This is an older thread. I wonder if they ever figured out what they had? Good luck and have fun...